‘Golden boy’ mummy was protected by 49 treasured amulets, CT scans reveal

‘Golden boy’ mummy was protected by 49 treasured amulets, CT scans reveal


The mummy was garlanded with ferns and wore a gilded face masks. Credit: SN Saleem, SA Seddik, M el-Halwagy

The historical Egyptians believed that after we died, our religious physique sought out an afterlife much like this world. But entry into this afterlife wasn’t assured; it first required a dangerous journey by way of the underworld, adopted by a person final judgment. For this purpose, relations and embalmers did every part they may to make sure that their cherished one may attain a contented vacation spot.

Scientists from Egypt have now used computerized tomography (CT) to “digitally unwrap” the intact, never-opened mummy of a 2,300-year-old teenage boy of excessive socioeconomic standing. They found a “Golden boy,” an undisturbed showcase of historical Egyptian beliefs about life after dying. For instance, he was despatched on his approach with no fewer than 49 amulets of 21 varieties to advertise his bodily resurrection. He wore sandals and was garlanded with ferns, wealthy in ritual that means.
These outcomes present a novel perception into mummification procedures and beliefs concerning the significance of grave ornaments through the Ptolemaic interval. They are revealed in Frontiers in Medicine.
“Here we present that this mummy’s physique was extensively embellished with 49 amulets, superbly stylized in a novel association of three columns between the folds of the wrappings and inside the mum’s physique cavity. These embody the Eye of Horus, the scarab, the akhet amulet of the horizon, the placenta, the Knot of Isis, and others. Many had been product of gold, whereas some had been product of semiprecious stones, fired clay, or faience. Their goal was to guard the physique and provides it vitality within the afterlife,” stated Dr. Sahar Saleem, the research’s first writer and a professor on the Faculty of Medicine of Cairo University, Egypt.



2023-01-24 00:10:01 ‘Golden boy’ mummy was protected by 49 treasured amulets, CT scans reveal
Source from phys.org

Exit mobile version